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History of St. Augustine

History of Parish of St. Augustine, St. Augustine, Pa. 83

 

     Not only was Bishop Garvey anxiously solicitious for the salvation of souls, but as a means to that end, he was deeply concerned about their temporal welfare. He strenuously condemned the deprivation of laborers by their employers of any part of their earnings. He wished all to be well housed, well fed and well clothed. In this connection he once in a public address in Johnstown opposed the levying of a tariff on wool imported into this country from abroad, which deprived the poor from procuring good warm clothes for themselves and their children. While solicitous for the decency of divine worship, the writer heard him advise people not to impoverish themselves by building churches beyond their means. Especially was he opposed to tall steeples, believing that a low tower with a spire of moderate elevation surmounted by the Sign of the Cross amply sufficient. That he was not anxious to hoard wealth is evinced by the fact that his estate after his death hardly approximated $500; but he undoubtedly had laid up much treasure in Heaven.

Rt. Rev. John Joseph McCort, D. D., Second
Bishop of the Diocese of Altoona.

     Rt. Rev. John Joseph McCort, D. D., was born in Philadelphia. He was educated for the priesthood at the Seminary of St. Charles Barromeo in that city, and was ordained to the priesthood by Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Shanahan, Bishop of Harrisburg, on October 14, 1883, and for sixteen years thereafter held a professorship in his alma mater, when he was appointed rector of Our Mother of Sorrows church, Philadelphia. On September 19, 1912, he vas consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, and along with the duties of this important office, he continued to serve as rector of Our Mother of Sorrows parish until March, 1920, when the late Bishop Eugene A. Garvey, on count of failing health, applied for a Coadjutor, when he came to Altoona.

     Since coming to Altoona, the duties of Bishop McCort have been many and arduous. Along with Bishop Garvey he labored strenuously to found St. Joseph's Home for Infants in Ebensburg, which was opened after the death of Bishop Garvey in January, 1921.

     In October, 1920, upon the death of Bishop Garvey, he, by virtue of the right of succession, became Bishop of Altoona. Since that time his endeavors to provide a cathed-


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